Press Releases

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement calling on House Republicans to disband their Select Committee to Attack Women’s Health, following Chair Blackburn’s decision to put providers and patients in Maryland in danger.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke at a press conference today with Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and House Democrats in support of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) joined House Democrats on the House Floor yesterday for a Special Order Hour to call on Senate Republicans to do their job and hold confirmation hearings and an up-or-down vote on Supreme Court Justice nominee Merrick Garland.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) discussed the ISIL threat, the need to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, and Republican inaction on a number of critical priorities, including jobs and immigration reform, on C-Span's "Newsmakers." Below are excerpts and a link to the video...

What we need to do in my view, however, is meet the immediate challenge of processing these folks who have come across the borders, many of whom are children. Treat them in a humane way and consistent with law.

Today, while millions of Americans are waiting for Congress to take action to create jobs, raise the minimum wage, fix our broken immigration system, address the humanitarian crisis at the border, and restore emergency unemployment insurance, the House’s Republican Majority chose to waste taxpayers’ time and money on a frivolous, politically motivated lawsuit against the President.

“Once again, House Republicans are in disarray, unable to govern as a result of division and dysfunction. Even when promising a continuation of their policy of sequester and another defunding of the Affordable Care Act – gifts to the extreme wing of their party – Republicans lacked sufficient support and were unable to bring their bill to the Floor.

“I was deeply disappointed to see that Senate Republicans voted nearly unanimously to block consideration of the Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill today, even while a bipartisan majority of senators voted to move forward with the bill.

Democrats continue to call for a big and balanced solution to stop the irrational and irresponsible across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester. While House Democrats have proposed a solution to stop these reckless cuts, Republicans have refused on four separate occasions to bring this legislation to the House Floor for a vote.

“We thought the bill was constitutional. The Supreme Court has said it’s constitutional. It's within our powers and we think the American public can be more secure today than they were yesterday with the assurance that they're going to have access to affordable, quality health care.”

I am disappointed Republicans once again chose confrontation over compromise by voting for a candidate who promised to bring more partisanship—not less—to Washington. In fact, Sen. Lugar’s opponent was quoted as saying: ‘bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view.’...

"In recent days, we have seen starkly contrasting budget plans. The plans put forward by President Obama and House Democrats are balanced approaches to getting our country out of debt while protecting investments in job creation and the future of our economy. But the Republican plan has a higher priority than balancing the budget or investing in our future or looking out for working families—its highest priority is cutting taxes even further for the wealthiest Americans...

...Current law already forbids federal dollars from funding abortion. But in pursuit of a divisive social agenda, Republicans also voted to defund Planned Parenthood, which would cut off the crucial services it provides to millions of women, including cancer screenings and blood work...

“Today, Republicans mark 100 days in the House majority. During that time, they have pursued divisive social issues, passed bills that have no chance of becoming law, introduced a budget that would end Medicare as we know it and threatened Americans with a government shutdown. But there is one thing that Republicans have failed to do: they have failed to even consider a single bill to create jobs...